Oswald Sanders defined leadership as influence, nothing more and nothing less. I agree, we are all influencers. We impact people to varying degrees and levels but influencers, therefore leaders defines us all. Sociologists support this idea with a study indicating the shyest person among us will influence approximately 10,000 people during their lifetime.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, the renowned America author, who among other works penned the Great Gatsby. I assume this is still required reading among High School students today and was recently popularized as a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Fitzgerald wrote 4.5 novels, countless short stories and screen plays but died believing he was a failure. It took between 10 and 20 years for his significance to be fully recognized and appreciated. Fortunately, that rightful recognition continues today.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s father experienced few successes and multiple failures during his life. He finally ended up back at home in St. Paul living off his mother’s inheritance. F. Scott left Princeton with out graduating and served in the US Army during WWI. He never left the states but met his wife Zelda while stationed in Alabama. His first novel, a rewritten version of an earlier rejected one was successful and his influence as a writer grew. He moved to France and wrote the GG but was never able to duplicate that level of success again.

He was plagued by alcoholism, depression and Zelda’s severe mental illness. F. Scott Fitzgerald died as a screen writer in Hollywood at the age of 44 of a heart attack.

This perspective on his life makes the following quote surreal:

We may look at F. Scott’s Fitzgerald life as not having lived up to his potential, but perhaps he was simply starting over on multiple occasions. I am reminded of what George Washington Carver said, “You do not judge a person by what they accomplish, you judge a person by what they overcome in order to accomplish.”

However, we interpret F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life, his influence is undeniable.  If he was indeed starting over, as we must all sometimes do, then I am convinced the following is absolutely true. “It’s Never Too Late to Become the Influencer You Can Be…because it is never too late to become the person you want/need to be…”

You and I may not be the author of the next great American novel but our influence, our impact and our significance will outlive us for certain.  Our Influence never dies.